


Stitches

by kay_emm_gee



Category: The Shannara Chronicles (TV)
Genre: Alternate Canon, F/F, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-02-11
Packaged: 2018-05-19 15:33:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5972094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kay_emm_gee/pseuds/kay_emm_gee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Eretria patches up Amberle but they talk about something other than Wil.</p>
<p>{Based on 1x07}</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stitches

**Author's Note:**

> Started writing this in the middle of watching the episode because I couldn't resist.

Eretria took one look at Amberle’s bare shoulder and wished she had never offered to stitch her up. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen the princess without her gear before. Back at the palace, she had seen that much skin, probably more. Except this time, she looked like a Rover: half-geared up, bloody, clenching her teeth against the pain. It suited her, Eretria decided, almost grinning at the thought.

“Are you going to sew me up or what?” Amberle finally asked, glancing up at her in half-confusion, half-amusement.

It took Eretria another moment to shake out of it. When she did, she crouched down and kept her eyes on the wound. Amberle was too close, and looking at her with intuitive hazel eyes.

_Too close_ , she nearly breathed aloud as she stuck the needle in and out.

Amberle hissed when she hit a particular tender spot. She didn’t bother offering an apology or the chance to take a break, though. This needed to be done, and pausing would only prolong the pain.

“Where did you learn to do this?” Her voice was quiet, but in the otherwise silent cavern, it rang out like cathedral bells.

“Out here, you learn,” Eretria responded, pulling a bit too sharply on the remaining thread. “Or you die.”

“That’s a bit dramatic.”

“It’s the truth.” She tied up the last stitch deftly, though her fingers itched to linger, to feel Amberle’s warmth for just a little longer.

“I wouldn’t make it a week, would I?”

It was the slight tremble underneath the humor that made Eretria jerk her gaze up to look at Amberle, finally. The princess’s chin was tipped up bravely, as if already defying the agreement she thought she was about to hear. Yet her eyes glimmered with that singular fear that Eretria knew far too well, the fear that you aren’t good enough for the role life has cast you in.

“You’ve made it so far, princess,” she remarked dryly. She made sure to keep her tone even, unfeeling, because she couldn’t give too much away, not yet. “Who knows? You might surprise me and last _two_ weeks out here.”

There was a short silence, and then Amberle laughed softly under her breath. As Eretria wiped her hands of her blood, the other girl shrugged her gear back on. So concentrated on cleaning up, she didn’t realize Amberle had leaned in close. Then she felt the soft press of lips against her cheek and the soft brush of her breath as she whispered, “Thank you. For this, and for believing in me.”

Eretria just stared harder at her hands–hands that had stolen and wounded, and now hands that have healed–as she listened to Amberle walk away. As much as she wished otherwise, a blush bloomed across her cheeks and her half-smile formed on her face.

By herself, Amberle might not make it too long out in the wild, but she wasn’t alone, and Eretria stood with renewed purpose, determined to help the princess survive, and maybe even thrive, for as long as she could.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have A/E prompts, come find me on tumblr (kay-emm-gee)!


End file.
